Should Amanda Knox shut up and go away?
On the 10th anniversary of Meredith Kercher’s murder, Italy’s national public television network (RAI) hosted a 1.5 hour symposium consisting of Knox prosecutors Giuliano Mignini and Manuela Comodi, and two defense attorneys for convicted murderer Rudy Guede. All four said “overwhelming evidence” pointed to the guilt of Amanda Knox, and all felt her Italian supreme court acquittal was somehow “illegal.” Nobody presented an opposition view and there were no critical questions for the participants.
That same year (2017), RAI gave killer Rudy Guede a 2 hour softball interview in which he declared his total innocence. Guede repeated his story that he met Meredith in a bar. She invited him to her place to have sex, and somebody murdered her while he was on the toilet. He quietly stated, in a tight close shot, that he was “101 percent certain” he saw Knox flee the scene. The host did not ask why, when on the run in Germany, he told a friend in a recorded Skype conversation, in a reference to tabloid headlines of the moment, that “Amanda was not there” and “she had nothing to do with it.”
An official for the Institute for Criminal Studies in Viterbo appeared on that show on Rudy’s behalf. He stated that after six years of working with Guede as his rehabilitation officer, he had become convinced the man is “a gentle soul” who “could not hurt a fly.”
The family of Meredith Kercher, speaking from U.K. this month, said they continue to believe Knox killed their daughter. They are hurt and appalled that she is being allowed back into Italy at the invitation of the Italian Innocence Project to address that body in Modena.
Kercher attorney Francesco Maresca voiced shock and disgust that nobody consulted him about whether Knox should be allowed into Italy. Maresca at trial had pursued a civil suit against Knox on behalf of the Kerchers seeking about 4 million dollars compensation. He provided the tabloids with endless lurid slanders about young Knox, for which he and the Kerchers have never apologized.
And Knox’s acquittal has been an economic catastrophe for Perugia. This ancient city, sensitive about tourists who want to see the murder house rather than their cultural attractions, has remodeled the structure and changed its address, to make it difficult for anyone to locate. A common belief among locals is that Knox surely had something to do with the murder and is the cause of their troubles.
Many seem to feel, in light of popular opinion that persists against her in Italy especially but also the U.K. and U.S., it is high time for Knox to shut up and go away. Once the public has embraced a tabloid story, they are unlikely to be swayed by an acquittal.
“We’re … stunned that so many years later there’s still this hatred, this loathing,” said an official at the Modena Innocence Project.
Yet Knox insists upon exercising her right as an ordinary person to stand up to her embittered accusers rather than seek shelter in anonymity. She spoke eloquently, in fluent Italian, in Modena, and received a standing ovation.
WaPo video link with subtitles:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...
That same year (2017), RAI gave killer Rudy Guede a 2 hour softball interview in which he declared his total innocence. Guede repeated his story that he met Meredith in a bar. She invited him to her place to have sex, and somebody murdered her while he was on the toilet. He quietly stated, in a tight close shot, that he was “101 percent certain” he saw Knox flee the scene. The host did not ask why, when on the run in Germany, he told a friend in a recorded Skype conversation, in a reference to tabloid headlines of the moment, that “Amanda was not there” and “she had nothing to do with it.”
An official for the Institute for Criminal Studies in Viterbo appeared on that show on Rudy’s behalf. He stated that after six years of working with Guede as his rehabilitation officer, he had become convinced the man is “a gentle soul” who “could not hurt a fly.”
The family of Meredith Kercher, speaking from U.K. this month, said they continue to believe Knox killed their daughter. They are hurt and appalled that she is being allowed back into Italy at the invitation of the Italian Innocence Project to address that body in Modena.
Kercher attorney Francesco Maresca voiced shock and disgust that nobody consulted him about whether Knox should be allowed into Italy. Maresca at trial had pursued a civil suit against Knox on behalf of the Kerchers seeking about 4 million dollars compensation. He provided the tabloids with endless lurid slanders about young Knox, for which he and the Kerchers have never apologized.
And Knox’s acquittal has been an economic catastrophe for Perugia. This ancient city, sensitive about tourists who want to see the murder house rather than their cultural attractions, has remodeled the structure and changed its address, to make it difficult for anyone to locate. A common belief among locals is that Knox surely had something to do with the murder and is the cause of their troubles.
Many seem to feel, in light of popular opinion that persists against her in Italy especially but also the U.K. and U.S., it is high time for Knox to shut up and go away. Once the public has embraced a tabloid story, they are unlikely to be swayed by an acquittal.
“We’re … stunned that so many years later there’s still this hatred, this loathing,” said an official at the Modena Innocence Project.
Yet Knox insists upon exercising her right as an ordinary person to stand up to her embittered accusers rather than seek shelter in anonymity. She spoke eloquently, in fluent Italian, in Modena, and received a standing ovation.
WaPo video link with subtitles:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/...
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